Barcelona are looking for a new head coach after sacking Ernesto Valverde - the man who led them to back-to-back LaLiga titles.

Valverde departs Camp Nou with the Blaugrana top of the table after 19 games in 2019-20, too.

Given his success with Barca, it seems a harsh decision, but do the numbers back that up?

With the help of Opta, we take a look at Valverde's two-and-a-half-year Barca reign.

 

69.5 per cent - Valverde took charge of 95 LaLiga games as Barca boss, winning 66 of those, drawing 22 and losing just seven. That 69.5 per cent win ratio is the fifth best return in the club's history, with Tito Vilanova way out in front with 92.10 per cent.

97 - Valverde, 55, will be disappointed he did not reach a landmark at Barcelona, with whom he was only three wins shy of 100 in all competitions.

36 - It started so well for Valverde too as the team were unbeaten in his first 36 LaLiga games, which remains the longest sequence for a new boss in the league's history. They won 27 of those fixtures.

43 - That long streak added to the final seven games of Luis Enrique's time in charge, when Barcelona were also unbeaten, giving them a LaLiga record 43-match unbeaten run.

4 - Valverde delivered four titles to the Camp Nou trophy cabinet - two LaLiga titles (2017-18 and 2018-19), the 2018 Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana.

213 - Former Athletic Bilbao, Valencia and Villarreal boss Valverde has won 213 LaLiga games in his career, the fifth most of all time. Luis Aragones (344) is the leader in that particular category.

9 - Beating Real Madrid is a sure-fire way to win over the sceptics and Valverde has toasted nine victories over Los Blancos this century. No manager has managed more in the 21st century (level with Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone).

0-3 and 0-4 - Valverde's inability to deliver Champions League success is believed to be behind the decision to sack him, though. Barcelona beat Roma 4-1 and Liverpool 3-0 in the home first legs of knockout ties during the previous two seasons, but they went out on both occasions as the Giallorossi beat them 3-0 and the Reds 4-0.

112 - Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi has been the most productive attacking player under Valverde, scoring 112 times and providing 46 assists for 158 goal involvements. Messi was involved in 47.9 per cent of Barcelona's 238 LaLiga goals under Valverde.

123 - However, it was not Messi who was handed the most starts by Valverde. With 109 appearances from the off, he is only fifth on the list, behind Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Gerard Pique, who accumulated 123 starts.